The Presbyters Project

IV (6).

Tunc temeratae coniuges, depullatae uiduae, profanatae uirgines, dilacerata monasteria, disturbati clerici, uerberati leuitae, acti in exsilium sacerdotes, oppleta sanctis ergastula carceres metalla, quorum pars maxima, interdictis urbibus protrusi atque extorres inter deserta speluncas feras saxa, nuditate fame siti adfecti contriti et tabefacti sunt.

(ed. Demeulenare 1985)

IV (6).

Then wives were violated, widows ravished, virgins profaned, monasteries demolished, clerics ejected, levites scourged, priests [sacerdotes] driven into exile, so that jails, prisons, mines, were filled with saints. Of whom the greater part was devastated and consumed, as they were forbidden to enter into cities and thrust forth from their homes to wander in deserts and caves, among rocks and the haunts of wild beasts, exposed to nakedness, hunger, and thirst.

(trans. C. A. Huertley, altered by J. Szafranowski)

Discussion:

Writing on the persecution of Constantius II, Vincent of Lérins quotes also Ambrose of Milan's De fide (II.16), in which Ambrose mentions confessorum neces, [et] exsilia sacerdotum ("deaths of the confessors and exiles of the priests") in the same context.

By priests, he most probably means both presbyters and bishops; compare with the passage: omnes clerici leuitae et sacerdotes ["all clerics, levites and priests"] in Commonitory XXIV.

Place of event:

Region

Gaul
Rome
Britain and Ireland
Germania (east of the Rhine)
Iberian Peninsula
Italy north of Rome with Corsica and Sardinia
Italy south of Rome and Sicily
Latin North Africa
Danubian provinces and Illyricum
East

About the source:

Author: Vincent of Lérins
Title: Commonitorium, Commonitory
Origin: Lérins (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Our main source of information about Commonitory is Gennadius of Marseille`s Lives of Illustrious Men. Writing about Vincent, presbyter in the monastery of Lérins (65, [618]), Gennadius mentions that he wrote a treatise on how to avoid the teachings of heretics, under the pseudonym Peregrinus ("Pilgrim"). Gennadius also recalls that the second part of this work was stolen when Vincent was still alive and now is almost completely lost, apart from the brief summary by Vincent himself.

Edition:

R. Demeulenare ed., Liber contra Arrianos; De laude sanctorum; Libellus emendationis; Epistulae;Commonitorium. Excerpta ex operibus s. Augustini; Altercatio legis inter Simonem Iudaeum et Theophilum christianum, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 64, Turnhout 1985, s. 147-195.

Categories:

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Administration of justice - Secular

Administration of justice - Exile

Writing activity

PR267.

Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER608, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=608